Tag: #inspirational

“There is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way.” Dr. Wayne Dyer ~

We as humans have a lot of things in common. Like the desire to always want more or get something better than what we already have. Though, even once we get more of what we wanted, we start all over again. The need to want more and have better just seems to keep growing. So, when is what we already have, enough? I think it becomes enough once you learn to be thankful for what we already have and practicing appreciation for how blessed we truly are.

If we have a wonderful marriage and family who loves us unconditionally, why do we complain about their antics instead of speaking to the good they bring to our lives? Do we spend the time maintaining those relationships or is it always the other persons’ job to appease? Do you make others responsible for your happiness or blame them if you are not happy? Do we expect others to entertain us and keep us content?

I read something recently that was very poignant, not only in love but every relationship we are blessed with. It said. “Everyone is always looking for the perfect partner. Yet nobody seems to try and be the perfect partner.”

Are we holding ourselves up to the same standards we hold our loved ones too?

Happiness is an inside job. When it comes right down to it. If you take away all our money, jobs, titles or stuff…. All we ‘have’ to give others and ourselves is love. When you think about it harder; the thing that brings us the most happiness is love!

A piece of our own hearts as currency. To give love is to receive love, it’s simple but complex. Have you heard of the love languages? We all differ in how we can feel and receive love. What makes me feel loved is different than how my husband needs to be treated to feel loved.

In honor of Valentine’s Day, I recommend reading The 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman. The love languages are: Words of affirmation, Acts of service, Receiving gifts, Quality time and Physical touch.

I found it very helpful in doing my part to maintain a happy marriage. It helped me learn that the way we are able to feel and receive love is different for everyone. But my point is that, no matter where you are in life, the grass is always greener on the other side if you aren’t watering your own lawn. You may find that once you start tending to and nurturing your life, you are able to see just how blessed you really are!

Here is an example: Do we expect our husbands to always cut the grass or shovel the snow while giving nothing in return? How do we show our appreciation for doing his part in taking care of the household duties? Do they need a present or what if we tried to make his favorite supper that night? Would this be a fair give and take exchange of energy and love?

If acts of service aren’t your husbands/partners love language, you may want to try a different approach and buy him a present, sing his praises or maybe even give him a back rub instead.

When we want more happiness, love, opportunity, or success, it helps if we appreciate what it is that we already have. The Universe/God is listening to your vibrations and does not deliver your opportunities when you aren’t appreciating the ones already in your lap!

If you aren’t thankful and appreciating your life as it is, or taking steps to improve it, it just not going to change. As it goes, the Universe delivers more of what you are asking for. If you are perpetually complaining, it’s going to give you more to complain about. If you are forever giving thanks and counting your blessings, it would pose to think you will get more of what you are thankful for.

When you are frustrated and tested, remember that the more you look for the good in the situation the more likely it will turn out good. Your life may not be perfect. But if you take a closer look and see you have love in your heart, family, and friends, a safe warm place to sleep, food on the table and a way to provide this security… you are already there!

You are already at the point in life where you can choose to be happy!

Psst… remember, the feeling is the prayer!

“There is no way to happiness. Happiness it the way” – Dr. Wayne Dyer

Wishing you the magical soulful healing you need right now to be the best you can be.

My favorite sound is laughter. Specifically, the sound of my daughter’s laughter. From the very first giggle to now, 25 years later, her laugh is still a sound that makes heart swell and my soul beam. Sure, I love the singing of the birds, great music of all sorts, listening to ocean waves or a thunderstorm but the sound that moves my soul, and I will never have enough of, is my daughters laugh.

(Then and now.)

She probably doesn’t know I pay that much attention, but I do. I can tell you when she laughs to be polite. If she is joking around or being sarcastic. Oh, and trust me, you don’t want to cross her path when she is vocalizing an angry laugh! She has lots of laughs and I think I know them all.

My favorite though, is her sincere, kind and loving laugh. It is the genuine laugh that comes from her belly and out her eyes and smile. I love it when she is laughing at something funny or just having a great time with family or friends. When she is playing on the floor at Christmas or the birthdays of our littlest family members; my daughter is good with children and her patience and kindness shows as she laughs at the little one’s cuteness and innocence.

She doesn’t know this but her smile and laugh brighten any room. When I hear her laugh, I hope with my whole being that she is as genuinely happy as the twinkling laughter that comes out of her. As a mom, I understand what it means when you say. “I just want you to be happy.” I don’t care what she does for a career or how much money she makes. I don’t care if she gets married or not, wants children or instead blesses me with furry grandbabies.

I only care that her heart is full of joy and she is happy with however she chooses to live her life. I only care that her laugh is real, and that she can be as liberal with it as often as she likes. The mom in me wishes I could help her with all the adulting challenges, we all have to face, but that’s not fair to her either. Everyone is supposed to have their own journey to live and learn from.

I pray for my daughter’s journey to be so full of joy she gets to share her wonderful laugh with as many people as she possibly can. She really has a great sense of humor and I love when she uses it to make others laugh with her. I hope she finds delight in the small everyday moments and gets the chance to have thrills and experiences so wonderful, she cannot hold her laughter inside.

(This is my daughter, having fun teasing her grandma who she adores!)

These are the thoughts and prayers I send my daughter, instead of worry or concern during a rough patch. I send loving intentions out into the Universe for my baby girl to always keep and feel like sharing her delightful, loveable laugh that I love.

And so, it is.

I’d like to know, what is your favorite sound and why?

Thank you for reading my blog today. Wishing you an abundance of blessings and joy!

When Stacy and I decided to go on our Retreat, we both had our own intentions for the weekend. Mine was to hold the feelings of happiness and the vibrations of joy in my body and mind for extended periods of time. The point of the exercise was to get comfortable with higher vibrations. I had been use to living in a political climate that seemed to be a bit lower in frequency and happiness was becoming a fleeting weird feeling, as of lately and I was not okay with that!

It was clear to me that I had some work to do! I needed to take responsibility for the energy I was bringing to my mind/body/spirit, the world and in my writing. This concerned me so greatly that I made the intention to make it a daily practice of holding myself accountable for the quality of my vibrations. I was determined to get comfortable with being joyful and content. Just like any other skill, if I want to be good at it, I knew I must practice.

The first morning we woke up on the boat, the sun was rising slowly, and the birds were singing as the water was rocking us gently. We observed nature’s beauty in our surroundings. I gave thanks to the Higher Power for the blessing to have a time out of the Minnesota winter and this helped to encourage my peace of mind. It was proving to be easy to be joyful just sitting on a boat, watching the morning come alive with my coffee as Stacy and I sat in silence. I smiled at the day before me, feeling up to the challenge of staying happy all day.

We were doing our best to be silent, to encourage ourselves to go within and seek the guidance we were looking for. It did help to encourage me to stand in my own truth. I found it was very liberating to not have to negotiate my feelings or compromise my state of mind; just for the sake of conversation. Then again, I also came to realize I process my feelings and come to a deeper understanding of my deep thoughts, when I can communicate and look for a different point of view. Sometimes we don’t see, what is plain as day to your loved ones.

As I sat there for hours, just watching nature and jotting down my thoughts in my notebook, I found I was increasingly joyful. I sat there smiling to myself, just for the joy of if it and because I could. If I could choose to be joyful just because, then I should be able to choose joy at any moment. Right?! Of course, you and I both know that isn’t always true. Our emotions can be very powerful, but the thing is, we can choose those too. We can choose to acknowledge the thoughts they bring us and then decide if they are true or just our subconscious bringing up old fears or worries.

When I give myself time to dig deeper into my reactions, I begin to understand. Stacy would help me see that my anger, was most times, just my initial reaction to being displeased. I don’t want to get worked up over things I cannot control, like politics. I am truly a lover and not a fighter. Because of this I must find a way to make a difference in the world that allows me to be love; not war. I also find myself wondering if “I am able to be this person if I pursue a political path?”

I know it was always up to me to bring light and joy to the room with me, when I walk in. I get to choose to be happy and share joy. Yet I worried about what others might think and put pressure on myself, that wasn’t necessary, when I was a candidate. This is a thing lots of people do, I suppose, when facing unfamiliar experiences. We tend make things worse, than they truly are, just because we fear the worst instead of expecting the best.

This was the whole point of my ‘holding happiness’ exercise! I want to retrain my brain to expect the best. To look for the joy in my life, every day. I am going to remind myself that it “is” safe to be happy. I am worthy of being happy and I have every reason to be happy. So I would like to start enjoying it! I have been blessed to see my life, in a different light, after a joyous and crazy experience that kept me away from what truly matters to me. I can finally see the blessings in my extraordinary yet ordinary life and feel the joy it truly brings.

Life gives you lessons all the time if you are able to see them. I can see that I have a choice now and I choose joy. Every day I am doing my best to be joy, to be love and to be the best me. I don’t have to make it harder than it is. All I must do is make a choice to be grateful and joy will follow. I don’t have to be on a boat and in Florida to be joyous! I realize, all I must do, is consciously let joy in!

To do this, I have started a new practice. Every morning before I get up, I give thanks and I wait until I find the vibration of joy. I stay there until I feel it and then I hold it and send it out into the world before I can get out of bed. Affirmations that help me get into this vibration are “I am love. I am joy. I am light.” I also think of who I love and even use cuddling my dogs, to help me feel those good vibes!

I am not a morning person, but this practice has helped me embrace the start of the day a bit better. It is basically a short, purposely powerful meditation; that helps start my day with love and joy. Assisting me to be the best me I can be as soon as my feet hit the floor. It has been working wonders. I hope you try it!

I am so thankful for the blessing of our short Adventure Sister Retreat. Stacy and I always have such powerfully healing experiences when we get to spend extra time together. Thanks to our visits and going within, I can see where I needed the help. We are truly soul sisters helping each other grow. I am blessed to have such a dear friend that loves me just as I am.

I have learned what is important in life to me, after learning some lessons the hard way. Losing friendships and failed relationships have taught me a lot about what is important as I travel through life. I have taken for granted, very important people in my life, only to regret it after it was too late to do anything. Losing my grandparents within a month of each other was a giant slap to my ego. I learned some major life lesson’s the hard way, for a few years after that.

The saying “You don’t know what you got until it’s gone.” Had significant meaning to me after these tragic events. I did not get to tell my grandmother, to her face, how much I truly looked up to her and that I believed she was a real-life hero. I did not get to thank her for her the love and kindness that helped shape who I had become. As a writer, I am much more comfortable writing out my feelings then expressing them with my voice. Yet, these experiences have taught me I must use ‘my voice’ when it is important for me to do so.

It is important, that I let the people I love, know just how much I love them and why. Many people in the world are sensitive, self-conscious and really do wonder if they are truly loved. I spent time, running circles in my own head, when I was younger wondering what made me worthy of love? Did just being born mean that I was entitled to love? I had a long and difficult journey, in my youth, learning just how to love myself. Learning how to give myself the respect and significance, I often gave freely to others, yet didn’t feel worthy of myself. In time, I found what I was looking for. Me. I was there all along.

I am grateful I have learned to love my perfectly imperfect self. That was because I also learned how to love others unconditionally first. I learned that nobody is perfect, and I should not expect myself to be either. I learned that I love other people’s imperfects just as much as I love the things they are really great at. My daughter is sometimes too shy to come out of her shell. When I see her acting this way I think; “I wish she knew just how wonderful she truly is. She is so smart, kind, witty, generous and has a heart of gold. I wish she could see herself as I see her.” I often wonder what others see when they see me. Do you?

I have learned what matters and is important to me; is that I let others know the wonderful qualities I see they possess. I have learned to appreciate my own mother, so much more, after the death of my grandparents. I am an only child, like my daughter. I learned what it felt like to have your one and only child move out and grow up. Never once, when I was younger and moving out on my own, did I even think of my mom’s feelings about the situation. I was so excited to be moving on with my life that I didn’t even realize she was also beginning a new journey herself.

Learning to appreciate the experiences of my elders, like my mother, is also important to me. I would much rather learn some lessons through the experiences of others, especially if they are difficult ones. Learning that with age comes wisdom, was a turning point for me. I started to reach out to others more experienced then I. Life experiences are meant to be shared; sometimes they help you and other times you can use your experiences to help others.

Another value that is important to me is connection. To feel heard, to be appreciated for who I truly am. I have learned to always try my hardest to be ‘authentically me.’ I have learned that when I’m not me, when I try to fit in and follow the heard, life gets more difficult. It became of utmost importance to me, to listen to my heart and the callings of my soul. It was difficult at times, but I never felt more purposeful in my life then when I started to truly be me. Quirky humor, type ‘A’ personality, Nature loving hippie chick, who really wanted to let my light shine.

I wanted that light to shine in a way that helped others the same way I had learned from the strong women in my life. I wanted to pay it forward and decided that if I wanted to change the world, I had better work on myself first. So, I did. I started looking within for the answers instead of searching for external direction. I figured out that nobody knew what I needed, to feel fulfilled, but me. I just had to ask myself the hard questions and hold myself accountable for the changes I wished to see.

It became important to me to practice kindness. To share my love for life, the planet and for others in a way that felt good and healthy. I started by gardening organic produce. Working to learn about and implementing Permaculture practices around my home. I wanted to nurture the Earth as she nurtured me. I learned to respect my mother’s opinion instead of rolling my eyes like a teenager. I learned that my young daughter had more wisdom then she led on. I learned I was also full of wisdom I could chose to use as well.

I learned that my husband’s commitment to me was the foundation I depend on to be brave enough to shine my light in the political arena. Without him offering a safe place to fall, I would have not felt comfortable enough to put myself ‘out there.’ I have learned to not take this very special relationship for granted. I have learned to be better at keeping up relationships by taking responsibility for contacting my friends and family instead of waiting for the phone to ring. I do this because my relationships are important to me.

People are important to me; my family, friends, community and the strangers (friends) I do not know yet revolving on this planet around me. We are all connected on this big old Globe. I see that we have so much more in common then we could ever have in differences. I work to shine my light to promote peace, community and working together.

This is me. I have learned that it is okay to be as me, as I can be, while loving others for who they truly are as well. Warts and all. I truly believe most people are good in their souls, they just have to choose to foster the good and utilize it. I do my best to do the same. It is connection that is most important to me, not money or power. It is the divine spark of life within that connects us all that I like to promote in myself and others. This is what I find most important.

Empowering others to be as authentic as possible to themselves is what powers me to be and do better every day. The good in me, sees the good in you!